Who has flown Aus to USA with United?

[aussiegirls]

Hi ladies

So United have some great airfares at the moment between Sydney and LA between now and March 31. Has anyone ever flown with them on this route, and are they any good?

I have always flown V Aust because I loooooove them and have never considered flying with anyone else and have always been willing to pay the extra hundred or so to fly with them, but this price is great and my mind is a-ticking?

Recommend or not????

Thanks

xxxx

 

[australiankaren]

I have ....

just take a few good books, some snacks and your ipad/ epad /kindle ...a blanket/ pillow to sit on and you`ll be fine.

For a great deal, the lack of entertainment is worth it.
And they have generous checked luggage allowance.

just dont expect bells and whistles.....

 

[BecBennett]

I don't recommend it simply because of the no personal TV thing. That plus they feel like they're really old planes. I flew United first, followed by VA on a later trip, and now I don't think I'd ever go back to United.

Customer service is fine, luggage allowance is good, everything else I have no problem with, however that personal TV thing is huge in my books

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Hehehe, send a PM to Queenie. She loves United, they should emply her as an Ambassador

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hi ladies

So United have some great airfares at the moment between Sydney and LA between now and March 31. Has anyone ever flown with them on this route, and are they any good?

I have always flown V Aust because I loooooove them and have never considered flying with anyone else and have always been willing to pay the extra hundred or so to fly with them, but this price is great and my mind is a-ticking?

Recommend or not????

Thanks

xxxx

They fly with an old fleet of planes on this route. If you're not flying with kids, they are good for the money you pay. I've flown them in 2009 without kids and it was fine because I went prepared.

With kids, I'd pay the extra money.

 

[queenie82]

I've flown them for over 20 years. Heck I might still be flying the same aircraft I was flying those many years ago

They have some of the best flight attendants and pilots I've ever encountered. This is why I am happy flying them.

As for baggage...do be aware that they are now charging extra for the 2nd bag...

I'll still fly them and will likely maintain my premier status with them from this preference...which at the moment maintains the two free bags...

If you expect bells and whistles and THIS is what is most important to you then United might not be for you.

But if you care about saving money and safely getting where you're going (ie not exploding A380 engines) then fly United.
I add up those hundreds of dollars extra per ticket and there's lots I can do with it...

 

[battymum]

I would totally fly United, the savings can be substantial, as long as it doesnt fall out of the sky I am happy, there is always phenergen for the kiddos - but when are they going to cotton on to the idea, that they could spend a few $$ and fit out their planes and charge a whole lot more....

 

[cola]

I've flown United, Air New Zealand and QANTAS to US, never flown VAustralia, so I don't know what I am missing.

If you have a vacant seat next to you, any airline is wonderful; if you have someone on both sides of you, any airline is a pain. I don't find the in-seat entertainment to be a deal breaker.

For everyone that says the in-seat entertainment is the deal breaker, an iPad etc is just not good enough, they will probably want to avoid QANTAS too - looks like they are moving away from in-seat entertainment to iPads, though with some streaming content. http://www.smh.com.au/executive-sty.../apples-ipad-takes-flight-20120201-1qsdf.html Only a 'trial' at this stage, but if it has gotten that far it usually means roll out impending. And you may have to also avoid Virgin Australia according to that article, they to are going to have an iPad solution later this year.
They'll probably start charging a $500 security deposit per seat or something.....

 

[queenie82]

An interesting article to read in conjunction...

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel...ment-brought-down-a-plane-20120227-1txvx.html

And for the record...
Anyone who checks seatguru.com would be well aware of the detriment in seat entertainment can be to legroom.
Which for tall people like me makes a normal economy seat even worse than it was...

If you end up choosing United and are tall. Then Look at Economy Plus. WELL worth it to me. Certainly as a minimum join United Mileage Plus as you will then be able to choose your seat for free as soon as you book.

 

[Melbourne5]

A mate of mine who is American flies united a lot and tells me that they were upgrading all the cabins of their 747 fleet and his past few trips to the us had been in the newer cabins that did have IFE. Just not sure how you could check this though for a particular flight.

 

[queenie82]

Look who's number 1...

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/most-admired/2012/industries/2.html

Fortune magazine has named United Airlines the most admired airline and ranked it number 1 for global competitiveness and long-term investment. Fortune surveyed corporate executives, airline executives, board of directors, industry analysts to determine the ranking.


And for the record...they have spent a LOT of money on their aircraft, and continued to do so. Unlike the limping Kangaroo who are spending as little as possible except buying unreliable A380s that have a tendency to go kaboom...
If you join the mileage plus program you can select your seat for FREE as soon as you book on their website. Should you be considering going with Economy Plus you can see the seat availability before paying for it. And while it's frustrating that they no longer offer upgrades to business for free even to frequent flyers...I COULD have paid $1000 (on top of my $1100 base fare) at the check in counter to fly business class to SFO trip in December. Ever so tempting as it is A LOT cheaper than paying for it any other way...


Those who HAVE been flying them for years and understand they aren't new babies to flying like Virgin know how much they have added (all the flat bed seats) to their aircraft, and continue to add.

 

[shadowblue]

We flew United to MCO last Sept / Oct. Saved about $1K all up between 4 over next cheapest. It's just getting there
No problems - coped with the main monitor entertainment as a few of the recent release movies I was quite keen to see (schedule on their website).
United 'cattle class' seemed the same crappiness as Qantas, who we'd flown previously. Customer service and cabin crew were fine, perhaps a bit older and multinational.
Connecting flights were seamless and all legs departed on time

 

[australiankaren]

hey
after reading queenie reviews on E+ I may even consider them for next years trip.....we survived 2 x10 hr flights to hawaii last week without IFE, so we could survive with out it syd-lax

thinking........

 

[DisneyWorldTraveller]

I've just booked flights to MCO with United and I'm a little nervous about it. The flights depart Melbourne to Sydney then 2 hours before flight to San Fran and 4 hour connection before onward flight to Orlando. I'm sure I'll cope it was only $1595. I've flown straight through to Uk from Melbourne with 2 young kids on a few occasions on my own so I'm sure doing this solo should be easy??? I pray!!!
Has anyone else tried this to save a dollar or 2???

 

[cola]

DisneyWorldTraveller, that sounds pretty normal, and if it's a direct flight SFO-MCO it sounds like a good connection. The great thing about United is all your flights are with them and it makes the luggage really easy to deal with. If the luggage gets delayed somewhere, or you get delayed somewhere, they will look after you and get the luggage to the final destination. It will be easy on your own

 

[DisneyWorldTraveller]

Thanks Cola. I'm loving the fact there are actually other people living in Australia that are crazy about Disney. Until now I thought that I was the only one :0)

 

[welley]

DL & I are flying United in July / August... We chose them as they were cheaper than all other airlines. We flew United a few years ago and no real complaints. The fleet is old, no personal TV's but generally fine to fly. Will load up the iPad and iPod and the time will fly. (so to speak).